DVD Videos

“Christopher Nupen: king of the music documentary.” Gramophone Magazine

“at its best, the disc is dazzling” International Record Review

“It is a superb account, bursting at once with piety toward the spirit of this music and sheer irreverence toward its execution…. Like a composer’s testament born, as the violinist reminds us, in a “yesterday that will always be today.” New York Times

“well made and satisfying” The Strad

“Wozzeck is perfect for the small screen, as the composer and intendant Rolf Liebermann intuited when he made his seventh and, he thought, best TV opera film by decamping the Hamburg State Opera to a castle in southern Germany. The considerable problems of the TV opera enterprise are overcome, triumphantly so: synchronisation is almost perfect, and the total commitment of all the singers is such as to suspend disbelief when their voices are coming from a generous studio acoustic while we see them outdoors - often with breath visible in the chill. It is an oppressively claustrophobic, deeply sobering experience, and so it should be.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2007

“Wozzeck is perfect for the small screen, as the composer and intendant Rolf Liebermann intuited when he made his seventh and, he thought, best TV opera film by decamping the Hamburg State Opera to a castle in southern Germany.
The many short scenes, abrupt shifts of perspective and concentrated dialogue are no more or less macabre, pitiful and comic than a month in the life of Weatherfield's Coronation Street.
Willi Reich points out in his monograph on the composer that Wie arme Leut ('We Poor People') 'summarises the whole social milieu of the work'. Just so, the orchestra squeezes into your sitting room like a busy night at the Rovers Return.
Liebermann could not have picked a better conductor for the job. Bruno Maderna's studies with Hermann Scherchen, his uneasy blood-brotherhood with Boulez and the Darmstadt bunch and his own creative analysis of Renaissance music in performance and composition make him ideally equipped to eschew the broad strokes of an opera-house production, even one as finely tuned as Abbado's, for a more expansive, analytical approach that zeros in on the structural fundamentals of Berg's score just as the camera registers every flicker of naivety (Andres), lust (Marie) and uncomprehending despair (Wozzeck) in relentless close-up.
Toni Blankenheim presents a noble, wretched Everyman, one who only at the last buckles under torment into insanity. Sena Jurinac plays Marie in the tradition of lighter voices such as Danco and Seefried, more agile and believably seductive-pathetic than the Wagnerian assumptions by (say) Polaski or Behrens. The remainder of the cast has strength in depth, and they all heed Berg's injunction to treat their lines as though singing Il trovatore instead of his Sprechstimme instructions in the score: even Gerhard Unger's hysterically admonishing Captain is sung rather than shrieked.
The considerable problems of the TV opera enterprise are overcome, triumphantly so: synchronisation is almost perfect, and the total commitment of all the singers is such as tosuspend disbelief when their voices are coming from a generous studio acoustic while we see them outdoors – often with breath visible in the chill. It is an oppressively claustrophobic, deeply sobering experience, and so it should be.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Edita Gruberová waited until 2006 to sing Norma on stage for the first time. In this production from Munich she is revealed as the greatest Norma of today. Her singing and acting bring out the complete portrait of the guiltridden priestess, trapped between her sense of duty to her religion and country, and the sickening prospect of losing her lover and her children. Gruberová brings a lifetime's experience of singing bel canto opera and caresses Bellini's vocal lines with many subtle touches.
Almost entirely absent is that mannerism of sliding between notes which has marred some of her singing in the past. Every phrase is moulded with the feeling and reticence of a great artist.
Jürgen Rose, in total control of the production – stage direction, lighting, costumes and sets – succeeds where many have failed in the past.
The action seems to be taking place in the aftermath of some terrible conflict. The middle-eastern costumes suggest the Iraq war, but the whole concept is more ambitious than merely to rely on familiar signs. Norma's tribe seems to have returned to its ancient religion as a refuge from the surrounding chaos. The semi-abstract sets are beautiful, the costumes simple. The priestesses' hands are stained with symbolic woad.
The men carry machine guns and wear black woollen masks. Norma's dwelling is an underground bunker.
Sonia Ganassi makes a sympathetic Adalgisa, and she and Gruberová sing both the great duets with exquisite tenderness. There is a touching moment when Adalgisa first confesses her love and Norma removes the girl's veil, as if to free her from her vows. Zoran Todorovich is a charismatic and virile Pollione. In the first act his singing seems rather over-loud at moments, but he is a fine actor and rises to the challenge of the final scene, where Gruberová begins 'In mia man' while he is bound to the altar with ropes.
Roberto Scandiuzzi makes the most of the somewhat ungrateful part of Oroveso. He too is very moving in the closing ensemble, as he forgives Norma and agrees to care for her children.
Friedrich Haider conducts the Munich forces with fine urgency and an impeccable understanding of the grand sweep of this notoriously tricky work. The whole undertaking is a triumph for all concerned, above all Gruberová and Jürgen Rose.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Edita Gruberová… is revealed as the great Norma of today. Her singing and acting bring out the complete portrait of the guilt-ridden priestess, trapped between her sense of duty to her religion and country, and the sickening prospect of losing her lover and her children. Jürgen Rose, in total control of the production - stage direction, lighting, costumes and sets - succeeds where many have failed in the past. The semi-abstract sets are beautiful, the costumes simple. Friedrich Haider conducts the Munich forces with fine urgency and an impeccable understanding of the grand sweep of this notoriously tricky work. The whole undertaking is a triumph for all concerned...” Gramophone Magazine, June 2007

“…at these sensible tempos, and with careful dynamic gradations, the structure of the larger choral sections emerges clearly and thus overwhelmingly. …the soloists, the chorus and the orchestra are united, as their shared smiles show, and it is moving to see how intensely the soloists, especially Joyce DiDonato, listen to one another.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 ****

“In a short interview before this concert in Notre-Dame Cathedral, John Nelson calls this performance 'a culmination of my experience with Bach' and it is one which is characterised by the conductor's highly considered and distilled understanding of the score. This is evident in his decisive direction, which is a model of clarity.
The tempi are beautifully judged, the monumental choruses are chiselled lovingly and the image-laden and reflective movements – reaching a tortured sadness and composed dignity in a superbly judged 'Crucifixus' – all conspire towards a magisterial and logical conclusion in the 'Dona nobis pacem', where heart and head seem happily entwined.
What prevents this from being as memorable are both the capability of the forces, beyond a certain level, and the flawed filming – random and quick-fire shots from all manner of angles.
The results are profoundly restless. There are far too many occasions where dubbing is ineptly handled, not least in the 'Laudamus te', where the admirable Joyce DiDonato is suddenly out of kilter with proceedings with an edit (26'39”) using a patch where the tempo is far too fast.
Comedy is the order of the day at the end of the 'Cum Sanctu Spiritu', where Nelson is filmed bringing off the ensemble at least two beats after the music has ended.
The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris perform in a fairly prosaic fashion by today's 'informed' standards and Nelson has a habit of accentuating appoggiaturas into submission; only the vibrant personality of the bassoons (notable in both bass 'arias') and the slick trumpeting ring out with complete confidence. The choir are committed and well drilled and Ruth Ziesak is the pick of the soloists, apart from an 'Et in unum' which is full of gratuitous accents – maybe in an attempt to encourage Daniel Taylor to take his head out of his copy. This DVD is not quite what it promises, though John Nelson's motivation and vision certainly bring a real sense of occasion.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“John Nelson gives Bach's great mass a highly distinguished DVD debut, with a deeply expressive performance, full of life...Nelson's tempi cannot be faulted, and the performance moves forward spontaneously to its richly satisfying closing Dona nobis pacem...Olivier Simonnet's video coverage is fully worthy of the performance.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“For all the reek of marketing hype, there's a real sense of occasion, our greatest living tenor benignly crowning superstar successors who promise comparable art and intelligence.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2007 *****